Piston-ring clamp.



L. O. DEMBRS.

PISTON RING CLAMP.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1914.

1,113,106. Patented Oct. 6, 1914.

Whnesses. l

b LouisO. Demers MW x fflmi pnirnn STATES 1?ATENT OFFIQE.

LOUIS c.- centres, or nosfr'on, messncnusn'r'rs.

'risron-nmo CLAMPS v Specification o! ietters Patent. Application filed June 11, 1914. Serial No. 844,567.

Patented Oct. 6, 19.14.

To all whom it may concern: 5

Be it known that I, LOUIS O. DnMnns, subject of the King of Great Britain residing at Boston. county of Sudolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented anlmprovement in Piston-Ring Clamps, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification like characters on the drawingmepre after cleaning or repairing it is necessary to i compress the rings into the piston and hold them in such posit on until inserted into the cylinder, a clamp usually being employed for this purpose. The piston is frequently removed and repaired without removing the engine or pump from its mounting so that it frequently becomes necessary'to insert the" piston in positions difiicult of access. This is particularly true in repairing automobile engines. In such cases it is frequently particularly diilicult to remove the clamp of usual construction from the piston after the piston has been inserted to such an extent that-the rings are entirely within the cylinder and the clamp has performed its nc-. tion.

Accordingly 'this'invention has for an object to provide an improved clamp which may be easily removed from the cylinder after it has served its purpose.

Another object is to provide a clamp which may be adpisted to fit cylinders of different sizes.

The nature and objects of the invention willmore fully appear from the following specification and accompanying drawings audthe novel features will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawingrFigure 1 is a perspective v ew of a clamp constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a, view in elevation showing the clamp applied to the iston. and Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 Fig. 2. the position of the pots during the process of applyingthe band being indicated in dotted lines.

Myinvcution provides a clamp which on gages tho pistou'rings and holds them temporarily contracted. In the preferred form to one end thereof.

vreleasin from t ehook, permitting the'clamp. to

the clamp coinprises a band to embracc'the piston and piston rings and a compression member connected. to one end of the hand and arranged to cooperate with the other end thereto to secure the ends together.

In the drawing I hate illustrated a clamping ring comprising a band 1, constructed .of brass or other suitable material and a compression. member '2 pivotally connected band is formed to engage and cooperate The opposite end of the with the free end of the compression mem her. For this purpose the band may conveniently be formed to present-a hook The engagement of the free end of the compression. member with the hook is such that when the compression member is moved to positionit is entirely disengaged drop from the piston.

The compression member in the construction illustrated is not connected directly to -the end of the band but a link -i intervenes,

one end of the link being pivoted to the band as indicated at 5 and the other end being pivoted to the compression member as indicatedat'ti. This link is preferably' somewhat longer than the compression member and so shaped and so connected at. its endsthat when the clamp placed around the cylinder with the free end of the compression member engaging the hook and the connected ends of the compression member and link are moved toward the cylinder and against the band, the parts taking the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2,- the point of engagement of the end of the compression member 2 and the hook 3 will lie inside a straight line connecting the pivots 5. 6. e

I at prefer this construction of link and compression ifiember in which the link is longer and so constructed that in locking and un locking the arts'the links are swung mdially toward and from the cylinder for the reason that this construction is easily manufactured and may be conveniently operated. It is obvious however that the links may be connected in other ways while retaining the same principle .of operation. It will be noted that the construction of the hook and compression member is such that when released the compression member will be entirely freed from the hook thus entirely disconnecting the ends ot' the hand'so that it may drop off from the piston or may be readily removed therefrom without the no cessity for further manipulation in order to' disengage the ends. This feature is of particular advantage when working in; a=;con-

fined space.

To apply the clamp to a piston and compress the piston rings the band is placed around the rings and the free end of the compression member 2 is inserted in the hook 3. The pivoted end otthe conlpres sion member is then swung inwardly against the band to the position shown in Fig. 3 in full lines. During this movement the-parts operate somewhat in the manner of a toggle. mechanism to apply tension to the band and compress the piston rings, thQ'COIHPIQSSIOII member and link being moved into alinement and then slightly farther to a locking position. \Vhen in this positionthe compression member and link are substantially in alinement with the ends of the band;

The band may be provided with projections to engage the end of the cylinder and prevent the clamp entering the cylinder as the piston is inserted into. This is conveniently done by bending the band at intervals to fern projections 7, and these-projections are sufiicient to engage the cylinder and thus hold the clamp to prevent it from entering the cylinder while the piston is pushed through the clamp into the cylinder.

In order that theclamp may be used for pistons of various sizes, I provide meansifor adjusting the length of the band. In the construction shown this is accomplished by making the band in two sections 8, 9. The

section 8 is provided with a pair of pro jecting pins, or lugs 10, having relatively large heads and small shanks and the sec-1 tion 9 is provided with pairs of eorrespondm ingly spaced holes 11 of key-hole shape. The spacing of these holes longitudinally'of' the band. is such that when the lugs "are inserted in dilferentholes the band will co'r respondin size to the several sizes of cylinder with which the clamp is to beused. I prefer to provide a guard 12 so positioned that when the lugs 10 are inserted in'the holes spaced from the end 14 of the section {5, the end 15 of the .seetion9 may be inserted 1n the guard to be held close against the section 8 of the band.

' serve the function rings and l11(:ll." may be removed by a sim- By this invention, I provide a'pistonring clamp, which when applied, provides the I necessary leverage/to easilycompress' the rings. into the piston thus making the clamp "of compressing the piston pie operation which entirely frees the clamp fromthe piston: V Hav ng described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: a I

1. Apiston ring clamp comprising a band formed at one end to present'a hook, a link pivotally connected to the opposite end of the band, and adapted to extend beyond the hook when the clamp is closed, and a compression or strut member pivoted to the outer end of said link and engageable at" its free end with said hook, whereby when the compression member is moved to looking. position, the clamping ring is contrac'ted.

,2. A piston ring clamp comprising a band formed at one end to present a hook, a.

link piyiotally connected to the other end 1 of the band, and a compression member kshorter'than saidlink pivoted thereto, and ,e'ngageable at its free end with said hook the parts being so constructed and arranged that the free end of the compression mem ber may be engaged with the hook and the 'connectedends of the compression member and'link moved to bring the link and conipression' memberv substantially into aline ment to contract the clamping ring. V. 3. Av piston ring clamp comprising a band formed at one end to present a hook and provided between its ends with projections toengage the end of the cylinder to prevent the band entering the cylinder, 21' compression member pivotally connected to the opposite end of the band and arranged to engage said hook and operating when moved. into alinement with the ends of the band to contract 'the'clamp. 4:. A piston ring clamp comprising a band -made in two sections adjustably connected together, one section being formed at its free end to present a .hook, a link pivotally c onnccte'd to the other end and a compression member shorter than said link pivoted to the outer end thereof and adapted to engage at its free; end with said hook, the parts being so constructed and arranged that when the free end of the compression member is engaged with the hook the connected 'presson member substantially into alinement thereby tocontract the clamping member. i

In testimony whereof, I 'have signed my ends of the compression member and link 1 may be moved to bring the link and comname to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

wins 0. DEMERS.

Witnesses? v MAURICE B. LANDERS," I THOMAS J. DRUMMOND. 

